A few years ago, I appeared in a production of The Vagina Monologues. It was the year that Notre Dame had finally decided to allow a production of the play by Eve Ensler in which women talk about their "down theres."

For many, the mention of the VM simply refers to the controversy of a bunch of women hollering the words "cunt" and "pussy" at the audience.
I performed in the play shortly after having a hysterectomy. I was celebrating the fact that my sexuality was in full flower, and that free from pain, I was once again relishing the pleasure that I could find with my lover.

Since then, my interest in VDay, Eve Ensler's organization is more geared toward the world-wide work that it does,  defined in its mission statement as:

About V-Day: V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler's award-winning play "The Vagina Monologues." In 2005, 1100 colleges and communities produced V-Day events in the U.S. and 41 countries around the world. To date, V-Day has raised over $30 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 5000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.

This year, the organization is focusing on the immediate, overwhelming problem of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Thousands of women have been raped. Many of these women were then tortured in ways in which their bladders, vaginae, uteri, and bowels were destroyed.

I am organizing a teach-in at the college where I teach on February 26. We will be showing the film, The Greatest Silence, (which is currently showing on HBO), we will be breaking up into discussion groups, and each person who walks through the door will be given a packet of information with specific instructions on how he or she can make a difference. In addition, my students are designing a variety of tee-shirts and we will be selling them as a fundraiser.

Over the next several days, I will be bringing you more information from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with information on how you can help.

We said that when these things were happening in Rwanda, that we would not let them happen again. And then they happened in Darfur, and once again, we said, never again.

Well, they are happening in the Congo. Right now. So what are we going to do about it?

If you want a place to start, try these ten things.